Exclusive

THE LEVANT – An activist known as the “blogfather” of Iran has finally been released from prison in his homeland after six years. Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan has been pardoned by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. He was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of spying for Israel, then sentenced to …

THE LEVANT – Three more Saudis have died of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), while a new case has surfaced, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday. Two of the deaths took place in Al-Kharj, 60 kilometers away from Riyadh, and the third in Taif. The latest casualties were …

THE LEVANT – Bahraini authorities released pro-democracy activist Zainab Al Khawaja from detention on Wednesday, her lawyer and sister said, as she awaits trial over a charge of insulting Bahrain’s king by tearing up his picture. Zainab, daughter of jailed activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, fell foul of the judge last …

THE LEVANT – Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan said it was time to reclaim the identity of the Arab world from a minority of extremists who have filled screens with images of violence and destruction. “These images don’t represent me anymore than they represent you,” said Queen Rania, in …

THE LEVANT – By Dr. Amer Al Sabaileh – With the failure of the Geneva II peace conference for Syria, the option of a political resolution seems to back on the table again. The peace talks held in Geneva faced off between the US priority of a political transition in Syria …

THE LEVANT – Friday morning around 50 Palestinian and international activists used makeshift bridges to cross the Apartheid wall between Qalandiya and Northern Jerusalem. This non-violent direct action was in response to the restrictions Israel had placed on Palestinian worshippers wishing to access Al-Aqsa Mosque in the past months. Activists scaled the wall one by …

THE LEVANT – An Iranian Supreme Court ruling barring from government positions a former judiciary figure linked to protester deaths after the disputed 2009 presidential election is a step toward justice, but far from adequate. In 2010 a parliamentary committee had found Mortazavi responsible for the deaths of three persons due …

THE LEVANT – The Houthi armed group and the Yemeni armed forces’ Sixth Regional Command appear to have committed violations of the laws of war during fighting in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, from September 17-21, 2014. The government should investigate alleged violations by both sides and appropriately punish those responsible. Human Rights …

THE LEVANT – A car bombing on Tuesday killed a leading member of Yemen’s powerful Sunni Al-Islah party whose supporters have been battling Shiite militias, a security official said. Al-Islah assistant secretary general Sadeq Mansur died “immediately” when a device inside the door of his car exploded in the country’s …

THE LEVANT – By Manuel Almeida – Until very recently, it was safe to say that one of the main beneficiaries of the 2011 uprisings in Yemen was the Muslim Brotherhood. Well organized and prepared like its Egyptian counterpart, the Brotherhood spearheaded the protests that demanded an end to Ali …

THE LEVANT – A Palestinian bus driver was found hanged in his vehicle in west Jerusalem overnight, in what Israeli police said was an apparent suicide but a colleague said looked like murder. The incident happened late on Sunday, with a supervisor finding his body at a bus depot in …

THE LEVANT – With soldiers firing warning shots to herald the nightly curfew and jihadist militants beheading informants, Sinai’s residents find themselves caught in the middle of Egypt’s “war on terror”. The Sinai Peninsula has become a hotbed of Islamist militancy after decades of neglect under former president Hosni Mubarak, …

By Kevin Galalae – Controlling human life on the planet A flood of revelations hit me a few days ago. Their significance will undoubtedly change society and ultimately history. To help you follow my thought processes I will write them down in the order my mind unraveled them by going …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi – The international coalition- led by the U.S.- against the Islamic State [IS], with additional American airstrikes targeting the ‘Khorasan’ al-Qa’ida group in Syria (in reality just al-Qa’ida veterans from the Afghanistan-Pakistan embedded with Syria’s al-Qa’ida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra [JN])- has prompted media speculation …

THE LEVANT – A viral video showing a Syrian boy rescuing a girl under gunfire, watched online by millions of viewers, was faked by a Norwegian film crew, according to its director. Posted on YouTube on Monday, the “Syrian hero boy” video was shot on location in Malta last summer …

THE LEVANT – By Ben Norton – Israel has banned Norwegian doctor and human rights activist Mads Gilbert from entering Gaza for life. Gilbert, a professor at the University Hospital of North Norway, where he has worked since 1976, earned international renown for his philanthropic work in late 2008, during Israel’s Operation …

THE LEVANT – At least 340 people have been killed in fighting for Libya’s second city Benghazi since the launch of a government-backed offensive against Islamist militias a month ago, medical sources said Saturday. At least 356 people have been killed in fighting for Libya’s second city Benghazi since the …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Hussain Choukri – Iraqi forces broke a months-long siege by jihadist fighters of the country’s largest oil refinery Saturday as the top US officer flew in to discuss the expanded war against the Islamic State group. Iraqi forces broke the Islamic State group’s months-long siege …

THE LEVANT – The United Arab Emirates, which belongs to a US-led coalition fighting jihadists, on Saturday issued a list of 83 Islamist groups which it classified as “terrorist organisations”. The list, approved by the cabinet and published on the official WAM news agency, is similar to an announcement made …

THE LEVANT EXCUSIVE- US President Barack Obama on Sunday rejected any alliance with Bashar Al Assad against Daash – also known as the Islamic State – arguing that the Syrian ruler was illegitimate and that any such pact would backfire. “Assad has ruthlessly murdered hundreds of thousands of his citizens. …

THE LEVANT – Jordan’s tough stance towards Israel over Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque reflects a determination to preserve its custodianship of the flashpoint site as well as its own stability, analysts say. By recalling its ambassador to Israel, the Hashemite kingdom sent a message that deploying police inside the mosque compound …

THE LEVANT – Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in annexed east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighbourhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” he said at a news conference …

THE LEVANT – Islamic State militants have beheaded US aid worker Peter Kassig even though he converted to Islam, a video posted on social media shows. Kassig, 26, was captured on October 1, 2013, by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants on his way to the city of Deir Ezzour …

By Prince Hassan bin Talal – For Al-monitor- What is to be done about Jerusalem? Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this region is witnessing new walls being built in vain attempts to contain problems between people. When will we realize that walls for separating cultures and people only …

THE LEVANT – With some 1,500 additional US ground troops heading to Iraq, the first advance team of US forces has gone to the Anbar Province, the restive southwestern province held almost entirely by ISIS. The US team, made up of about 50 troops, is scouting facilities from the 2003-2011 …

THE LEVANT – Saudi Arabia on Wednesday transferred the deputy governor of the kingdom’s Eastern Province, in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack against minority Shiites in the region. A royal decree “decided to relieve Emir Jalwi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaid al-Saud” from his post and transfer him to Najran …

THE LEVANT – US military action against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria began on a small scale three months ago but has steadily expanded in size and scope, raising the stakes for Washington, experts say. The mission has morphed from protecting religious minorities in Iraq to a vow …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – Denmark is to send a further 25m kroner to Gaza to help the Palestinian children, announced Trade and Development Minister Mogens Jensen. The minister said that the latest funding, which is in addition to the 11m kroner sent in July, was to help the children of …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By John Simmens – The Gaza Strip is not a place most world travelers would eagerly visit. But Olympia clinical psychologist John Van Eenwyk, 68, is not your typical world traveler. He founded the International Trauma Treatment Program in Olympia and has spent much of his …

THE LEVANT – French lawmakers will vote on November 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said Wednesday. The non-binding but highly symbolic vote would follow a similar vote in the British parliament and after Sweden announced …

THE LEVANT – Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Wednesday sacked 36 army officers in an anti-corruption drive at a time when the military is locked in conflict with Islamic State group jihadists. His office said that Abadi, who also serves as armed forces commander in chief, and has already …

THE LEVANT – Israel will not cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into its 50-day war with rocket-firing militants in Gaza this summer, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Israel will not cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into its 50-day war with rocket-firing militants in Gaza this summer, a government …

THE LEVANT – The following is the text of the letter by Rabbi David Yosef, Head of Beit Hamidrash “Yahavei Da’at” and member of the Council of Torah Sages (Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah), to Benjamin Netanyahu. The letter was written on November 9th, 2014. Pursuant to the Halacha Ruling publicised last …

THE LEVANT – The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, has described the continuous violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque at the hands of Israel as “an indication of the occupation’s arrogance and its increased stupidity,” Al-Araby Al-Jadid news website reported on Tuesday. Salah further explained that, “the …

THE LEVANT – Individual resistance operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem are a justified and natural reaction to the Israeli military occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people and holy sites, Hamas said. Hamas criticised the murder of Khayr Al-Din Hamdan in cold blood, describing it as a …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian Jerusalemite Bassam Zeidani confirmed that Israeli forces stormed his Jerusalem home yesterday and ordered the arrest of his nephew Hamza Zeidani, a child who is only two years old. Zeidani added that Israeli forces entered his home with a warrant for Hamza’s arrest and when they …

THE LEVANT – By Sobhi Ghandour – Islam has once again taken centre stage in the western media, with headlines dominated by terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims. However, acts of terrorism committed by non-Muslims are just seen as violent crimes by individuals. The concept of “Islam and the West” in modern …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Julia Lugovska – US-led strikes have targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders in Iraqi town near the Syrian border late on Friday, 8 November. This meeting possibly included ISIS top commander Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, reported one of the local TV channels on Saturday and …

The Levant Exclusive – By Dr.Amer Al Sabaileh – The launch of the airstrikes against IS marks a turning point and a long road ahead for the region, full of new and complex challenges. The focus of the fight against regional terrorism on IS has increased global coverage highlighting …

THE LEVANT – Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets on Friday and called for the government to cancel the peace agreement with Israel in response to the escalation of violence in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Arabs48 website said. Demonstrators chanted “death to Israel” and called for the closure of the Israeli …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – while the media have solely focused on denouncing what they perceive as Islamic radicalism, aligning Daash sickening ideology and perversion with Islam,thus perpetuating the belief that Islam is inherently flawed; Muslims have recognized the manipulation for what it is – ultimate propaganda. Beyond the ideology, beyond …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Catherine Shakdam – This Thursday the BBC published a report in which Mark Lowen recalls his encounter with a Syrian child, a child who claimed he was on his way to join Daash, aka ISIL in Syria. The boy who said he wanted to be …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Catherine Shakdam – Andrew Gilligan from the Telegraph wrote in his latest report that Britain has quite simply “sold her soul to Qatar,” slamming the British government for openly engaging and dealing with Qatar even though it continues to harbour ties with well-known terror groups …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Catherine Shakdam – Tribal and security sources have confirmed on Saturday that dozens of Houthi militants were killed in Central Yemen, where they have been battling against Al Qaeda for since October. The Houthis who have advanced from their stronghold in northern Sa’ada, well into …